Welcome to skydiving. You will now look at the weather in a completely different way. Standard weather forecasts will no longer do. Cloudy? Well, what do you mean by cloudy? How high is the ceiling? Breezy? Windy? So what's the dividing line there? And WTF does "Partly cloudy" really mean, anyway?

Soon enough you'll need the AWOS phone number (if there is an AWOS at your airport, that is) so you can call in and hear the magical words "Clear below one two thousand feet." Of course, once you hear that you've gotta listen for Mr. Automated Voice to tell you the winds as well, because those numbers might be nice ... and they might be naughty (high, gusty, or both).

And even armed with all that info, a lot of skydiving weather "management" involves going to the DZ and waiting. Waiting for that morning fog to burn off. Waiting for the winds to die down. Waiting for that hole in the clouds to appear right over the DZ.

And yeah, some of the limitations are tighter when you're a student, but to be honest, this never really goes away. We're at the mercy of the weather, and every season has its weather challenges to be aware of.